Just a Phase
by DNAisUnique
Summary: Picks up where 'The Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood' ended.


**Thanks for all the support/feedback for "Boothy." You've made it one of my most popular one-shots! The following takes place after, 'The Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.' Enjoy!**

**VVVVV**

"So when are we going swimming, Dad?" Parker asked.

"Hey, Buddy, we can't just invite ourselves. We have to wait for Dr. Brennan to invite us."

Brennan, once again shielding her face with her glass of orange juice as though Parker couldn't hear them talking, turned to Booth. "I gave you the key. You can come and go as you please. You don't need an invitation or my permission."

"Still, Bones, it's just weird," he replied, holding his milkshake in front of his face, in the 'I'm-telling-you-a-secret-in-a-not-so-secretive-way' gesture. Then he lowered the milkshake and turned his attention toward Parker. "The pool's probably closed until next year."

"No, it's not," Brennan informed them. "It's an indoor pool, so it's open all year. Parker, would you like to come over and swim?"

"Yeah!" Parker exclaimed. "Can I Dad? Please, please, please?"

Booth groaned. "Bones…"

"What, Booth? What's the problem? You just told Parker that he needed an invitation, even though that's absurd since I already said you could use the pool as my guests, and then when I make the offer, you complain about that, too."

"I just thought that you might have other plans for the rest of the day," Booth told her.

"You could use the pool anyway. I don't have to be there with you. But, no, when you asked me to come with you, I cleared out the rest of the day."

Finally, Booth began to relax. "You did that for me? Really?" he grinned.

"And for Parker, of course. I mean, you asked me to be your village, metaphorically speaking, and I assumed you meant for more than a meal…"

"That's very…thanks, Bones."

Parker watched the two, clueless as to what they were talking about and wondering why adults had to be so weird. "Does that mean we're going swimming?" he asked hopefully, eyes wide.

Booth grinned at Brennan for a moment longer then turned to Parker. "We'd better go grab your goggles, Bub."

"Yes!" Parker exclaimed as he jumped from his chair and quickly hugged Brennan. "Thanks!" he finished, placing a kiss on her cheek.

"Hey, what about me?" Booth asked as he pulled out his wallet and removed enough money to cover their food.

"She's the one with the pool, Dad," Parker told them, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yeah, but you wouldn't know her if she wasn't my partner, so shouldn't I get a little credit for the pool thing?"

"I guess maybe a little, but definitely not as much credit as she gets."

Brennan couldn't contain her laughter as Parker tugged on her hand, urging her to stand up. She got up and followed the exuberant 'Baby Booth,' glancing over her shoulder to make sure Daddy Booth wasn't far behind.

He caught her gaze and grinned, took a final sip of his milkshake, then trotted to catch up with them.

Outside, Brennan walked around to the passenger side of Booth's vehicle, leaving the Booth boys to get in on the driver's side.

Parker glanced up at Booth, squinting in the bright sunlight. "Hey, Dad. Aren't you gonna thank her for letting us swim?"

"I already did," Booth told him as he unlocked the doors.

"No, you didn't. And you didn't kiss her like I did. I think she'd like it if you kissed her."

"Parker…"

"What? We gotta be nice to her so she'll keep letting us swim."

"And that's the only reason you want me to kiss her?" Booth asked, opening Parker's door. "You're not still trying to find me a girlfriend?"

"No," Parker said as he climbed in and buckled his seatbelt. "Celibacy is just a phase and that's okay."

Booth gasped, horrified that Parker would say something like that. He shut Parker's door and groaned as he opened his own. Brennan smirked at Booth's scowl.

"What are you laughing at?" he mumbled.

"Nothing," she said, smirk growing.

"You know what? My sex life is just that. _My sex life_. Remind me to never let Angela babysit. Ever again."

"I tried to get you to let Parker go with us to the crime scene…"

**VVVVV**

**Thanks for reading!**


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